Biography

James Weeks

Biography from the Archives of askART

A painter and instructor of painting, James Weeks taught at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1958 to 1967, the University of California in Los Angeles from 1967 to 1970, and at Boston University from 1970 where he was Chairman of the Art Department.

Figurative painter James Weeks was born in 1922 in Oakland, California,
to bandleader Ansel Weeks and classical pianist Ruth Daly.
Considered a member of the first generation of Bay Area Figuration, his
work is characterized by a signature "flattened" style, bold outlining
of brilliant color fields, and aggressive, interlocking shapes.
His influences range from European Modernists Henri Matisse and Max
Beckmann to California Modernist Maynard Dixon and Mexican muralist
Clemente Orozco.

His works from this period are especially valued for their exceptional
balance between color and form, as well as, their clear exploration of
light and space. Unlike other members of Bay Area Figuration, Weeks
never experimented in a non-objective style. He painted "the darker
side of American culture": jazz clubs and sports arenas. His characters
do not represent an everyman or seek to convey a universal truth about
humanity; rather, they serve as social commentary.

James Weeks
held teaching positions at the San Francisco Art Institute (1958-1967),
where his colleagues included artistic luminaries Richard Diebenkorn
and Elmer Bischoff; the University of California, LA (1967-1970), and
Boston University where he acted as Chairman of the Art Department.

The
work of James Weeks can be found in the collections of such prominent
institutions as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art; the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC; and the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.

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